Adding Your First Trailer

Adding Your First Trailer

Your fleet is the heart of TrailerBase. This guide walks you through adding your first trailer from start to finish so it is bookable on your public site in under five minutes.

Step 1: Open the Add Trailer form

From the sidebar, click Trailers. On the trailers page, click the blue Add Trailer button in the top-right. The form opens in a full-screen drawer with four sections: Basics, Specs, Pricing, and Photos.

Step 2: Fill in the basics

In the Basics section:

1. Display name - A short, human-friendly label. Example: "14ft Dump Trailer #3". This is what renters and staff see first.
2. Type - Pick from the dropdown: Dump, Enclosed, Flatbed, Car Hauler, Utility, Equipment, Gooseneck, Car Carrier, or RV. See the Trailer Types Explained article if you are unsure.
3. Status - Leave as Active when you are ready to publish it. Pick Inactive to save as a draft.
4. Home location - The yard or address where it lives. If you have one location, this auto-fills.

Step 3: Enter the specs

In the Specs section, add:

• Year, Make, Model - For example: 2024, Big Tex, 14LX
• VIN - 17 characters. TrailerBase validates the format.
• License plate and state
• Color - A dropdown with common trailer colors plus Custom
• GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) in lbs
• Deck dimensions (LxW) in feet
• Axle count (single, tandem, triple)

Step 4: Set the pricing

In the Pricing section, the only required field is the daily rate. The rest are optional but recommended:

• Daily rate - The base rate per 24 hours. Example: $95.
• Weekly discount - Percent off when a renter books 7+ days. Example: 10%.
• Monthly rate - Flat rate for 28+ days.
• Cleaning fee - One-time, flat. Example: $40.
• Security deposit - Flat dollars or percent of total.
• Delivery fee - Flat or per-mile.

See Setting Up Trailer Pricing for the full pricing guide.

Step 5: Upload photos

The Photos section accepts up to 10 images per trailer. For each photo:

• Format: PNG, JPG, or WebP
• Max size: 5 MB
• Recommended aspect ratio: 3:2 landscape

The first photo in the list becomes the hero image on your public site. Drag any photo up or down to reorder. See Uploading and Managing Trailer Photos for details.

Step 6: Save the trailer

Click Save in the bottom-right of the drawer. You will see a success toast and be redirected to the new trailer's detail page. The trailer now appears:

• In the Trailers list
• On the Calendar as its own color-coded row
• On your public rental site (if marked Active)
• In the New Reservation trailer picker

Step 7: Activate it on your public site

If you saved the trailer as Active, it is already live on your public site. You can confirm by:

1. Going to Website > Preview (Advanced plan) or clicking View public listing from the trailer detail page.
2. Scrolling to your fleet grid.
3. Checking that the new trailer shows up with the hero photo, name, type, and starting-at price.

What happens next

With one trailer live, you can:

• Create a test reservation on yourself (see Creating a New Reservation)
• Add another trailer - most operators add their whole fleet in one sitting
• Set up deposit pre-authorization so you can charge real cards on real bookings